About
OCEN advocates for school choice and religious freedom in education and equips Catholic and Evangelical schools to promote a biblical worldview.
The Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN) protects the religious liberty of Christian schools and ensures every Ohio family has access to a Gospel-centered education.
OCEN, a division of Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), is a coalition of schools and community members who stand for freedom in education and want to support initiatives that prevent the government from intruding on the right of Christian schools to teach Gospel-centered principles.
With a daily presence in the Ohio Statehouse, OCEN is your partner in combatting additional regulations that make it tougher to provide Christian education and maintain Christian schools.
OCEN also endeavors to see Ohio offer “true-choice” to families. This means any initiatives to promote school choice programs come with as few strings attached as possible, ensuring private Christian schools do not have to compromise their operating principles in order to have students enrolled on state-sponsored scholarships or tax credit programs.
Core Principles
Religious Freedom
Christian schools should have the freedom under law to operate according to their Biblical beliefs.
Parents’ Rights
Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children.
Education Funding
Ohio should have a “money follows the child” education funding system.
Regulation
School choice programs should come with “no strings attached.”
What We Do
• Encourage Christian school leaders to participate in public dialogue about the most pressing issues in education and build a network of Christian school advocates who come together to work for school choice and freedom of religious education
• Stand in support of parents’ rights to choose the best education for their children and expand school options for families
• Oppose any governmental or social intrusion on Christian schools’ right to operate freely
• Support the growth of Christian school access by school planting in areas that are under-served
• Advocate for religious liberty and educational freedom at the Ohio Statehouse
• Fund students seeking Christian education with our OCEN SGO scholarship program
The OCEN Team
Troy McIntosh
Executive Director
troymcintosh@ccv.org
Troy comes to OCEN after serving 27 years in Christian education as a teacher, principal and, for the last eight years, as head of school at Worthington Christian School in Worthington, Ohio. Prior to his time in education, he worked in the Ohio House of Representatives in the Legislative Services Commission Fellowship program.
During Troy’s time at Worthington Christian, he served the broader Christian school community as an Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) Regional Council Member and Accreditation Commission Member, accreditation team chairperson, and conference presenter. For the last 15 years, he has held various roles with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), including President of the Central District Athletic Board and Vice President of the OHSAA Board of Directors.
Troy is a graduate of Wheaton College (B.A. Economics) and The Ohio State University (M.Ed. Education) and is a Colson Fellow with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He and his wife Julie live in Westerville, Ohio and have three grown daughters.
Corrinne Vidales
Assistant Director
corrinnevidales@ccv.org
Corrinne grew up in Northwest Ohio and graduated with a B.A. in English from Bowling Green State University, where both of her parents were educators. After graduation, she participated in a year-long Franciscan service program directing an inner-city after-school program in Syracuse, New York. That experience sparked her interest in transforming education. She then moved home to work for Catholic Charities in Toledo, Ohio at La Posada Family Homeless shelter.
Corrinne earned a full-tuition scholarship to Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, where she met her husband, Edgar. She focused her seminar and elective courses at law school on Children and Education Policy. She also spent a semester interning for the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See at the United Nations where she worked on multiple commissions and negotiations pertaining to issues of human rights, youth, national jurisdiction and others. Corrinne passed the Ohio Bar Exam shortly after being hired as OCEN Assistant Director in 2020, and is admitted to the practice of law in Ohio.
Corrinne and Edgar welcomed their first child in April of 2021, an addition to their growing household including fish, a turtle, chickens, parakeets, and a puppy.